• The Mt. Soledad Memorial Association has elected a new group of officers. William J. Kellogg, member since 1984, continues as chairman and CEO. Former vice president Bruce Bailey is now president and COO. John Anderson, 2010 Veteran of the Year, now presides as vice president. John Michaelson is treasurer; and secretary is Brigadier General Earl Van Inwegen. • Head of School Aimeclaire Roche recognized 27 students in The Bishop School’s Class of 2010 for receiving membership to the Cum Laude Society at an April 20 convocation at St. James by-the-Sea Church. The students are Natalie Alvarez, Andrea Basaraba, Peter Bestoso, Tasha Bock, Christopher Boutelle, Katherine Cheng, Rebecca Chien, Eric East, Amy Fleming, Hillary Halter, Frances Harvey, Joy Marie Hermes, George Kailas, Irene Kim, Allison Koo, Remi Levoff, Megan Murray, Karina Partovi, Justin Peabody, Marissa Pettit, Sarah Presant, Aaron Schild, Craig Sexauer, Alexandra Thomas, Christine Wang, Carly Woodworth, and Michelle Yu. New society member and 2010 graduate Katherine Cheng and alumnus Adam Branch, Class of 1993, addressed the crowd of students, parents and staff, and offered ideas on social norms and students’ future roles as active individuals in society. The Cum Laude Society was founded in 1906 to recognize superior scholarship in independent school students. Approximately 4,000 students nationwide will be inducted this year. • Fred H. Gage, a Salk Institute scientist, professor, research chairman, and as one of the world’s most highly-cited neuroscientists, has been elected to the prestigious American Philosophical Society. With research focusing on the adult central nervous system, Gage has subverted the accepted dogma by showing that humans are capable of growing new nerve cells. His efforts to understand how immature nerve cells in the brain can be induced to become mature, functioning nerve cells may eventually be harnessed to repair aged and damaged brains and spinal cords. The APS has more than 1,000 members worldwide, 80 percent of whom are from the United States and 250 of whom have received the Nobel Prize. • Salk Institute professor Terrence J. Sejnowski, Ph.D., has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his work on neural networks that helped spark the neural networks revolution in computing during the 1980s. Dr. Sejnowski studies how computer simulations can perform operations that resemble the activities of the cerebral cortex, in what he hopes will produce new knowledge about how the human brain can learn and store memories. His findings may ultimately help provide medical specialists with clues to combating Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders. As of today, 16 of the Salk Institute’s 60 faculty are members of the National Academy of Sciences.
